Electric connection for railway-rails



(No Model.)

0. J. VAN DEPOELE.

ELECTRIC GONNEGTION FOR RAILWAY RAILS. No. 403,010.

Patented May "7, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC CONNECTION FOR RAlLWAYrRAlLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,010, dated May '7, 1889.

Application filed June 21,1888. Sterial No. 277,772. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen. of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Connections for Railway-Rails, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to conductors for electric railways, and more particularly to means for securing a perfect, reliable, and durable electric connection between the ends of the rails of a railway in cases where the rails themselves are included in and constitute part of the return side of the circuit supplying the motive current.

Various means of electrically connecting railway-rails for various purposes have heretofore been proposed. Plates of metal have been laid under the ends of the rails, metal plates have been bolted to the sides of the ends thereof, short sections of wire have been attached to bolts in the ends of opposite ends of rails, and many others; but no sufficiently effective and practically economical means have as yet been employed for electrically connecting the rails of a railway adopting electricity as a motive power, and the rails of which might be badly worn and not in the first instance designed to be used as electrical conductors. Furthermore, my invention is specially adapted to the utilizing of the flat species of rail commonly employed on streetrailways, the ends of which are very difficult to effectively unite electrically, the rails being usually slightly below the surface and covered with rust, besides being constantly disturbed by passing vehicles.

In order to secure a durable, cheap connection, I insert a sheet of metal under the adjacent ends of succeeding rails, both ends thereof rest-ing upon the sheet of metal, both rails and strips being secured to the stringers in the usual manner by spikes passing through both rails and strips.

Instead of locating the strips at the railjoints and using them to connect the rails, I may locate a strip under any convenient part of each rail; For the connecting plates or strips any metal may be used; but I prefer a non-oxidizable metal, and I find that zinc is specially suitable, since there is no voltaic action between zinc and iron or steel.

Wire of any cheap metal is secured to or inclosed between folds of the connecting plate or strip and is carried along the track continuously with the rails, or may be in short sections secured to the rails themselves at points near the joints. When the track-conductors are connected to both rails and are continuous throughout instead of merely extending from plate to plate, the auxiliary conductors of both tracks should be electrically connected at intervals in order to maintain the circuit in case of accident to one of the conductors or the temporary removal of a rail or rails at any one point.

My invention also relates to certain details of construction and arrangement hereinafter set forth, and referred to in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a railway, showing the applica tion of the rails thereof of additional conductors and connecting devices embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of a roadway embodying my invention.

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are detail views showing the auxiliary'conductors in different positions.

In the drawings, A A illustrate the flat rails of an ordinary street-railway, said rails being supported upon stringers a, which latter are mounted upon cross-ties B in the usual manner. Any type of rail supported upon any desired foundation may also be used, the form herein shown being well known and adopted merely for purposes of illustration. The main conductor may be located within an underground conduit, .0. (Shown as buried between the rails A.) It may, however, be suspended above the road-bed or otherwise arranged, so far as the present invention is concerned.

Electrical continuity between the ends D D of adjoining rails A A is maintained by metallic plates E, which, as shown, consist of plates or strips of galvanized sheet iron doubled over or otherwise secured to a wire, F, and then inserted under. the ends of said rails. The portions inclosing the conductor F may be exterior to the rails, electrical connection being established between the conductor F and the rails at any desired point or point-s. The plates E are secured in position under the ends of the rails by the spikes c, which pass through the rails and the plates E before entering the stringers a. The plates E need not necessarily be located only at the ends of the rails, nor is it essential that they be located there, since good results may be obtained by placing a plate E under any other portion of each rail. Plates additional to those underlapping the ends of the rails may also be located at intervals, if desired.

The conductors F may be of any desired metal. Ordinarily galvanized iron is preferable on account of its non-oxidizable properties and the absence of voltaic action between zinc and iron. In some instances, however, a copper conductor may be desirable, The conductor F extends along the track preferably beneath the rails and between. the rails and stringers; but it will be found convenient in many instances to form the plates E longer, as shown in Fig. 2, extending them downwardly, so that the conductors F may be conveniently secured to or remain in proximity to the stringers a, and. in that position. be covered and protected by the material of the surface of the roadway, since contact with. the earth will not affect its value as a return-conductor.

The conductors F may be located either on the inside or outside of the rails. In most in stancesboth the traclerails will be similarly connected to the conductors F, which are in that case themselves connected at intervals by cross-wires G Electrical connection is established between the rails A and the travcling motor through suitable conductor, g, extending from the motor into metallic connection with the axle II and wheels I of the vehicle. The main circuit may be established through traveling contact device and conductor J in any suitable manner.

It will be entirely obvious that the underlapping plates E may be of any suitable metal and folded around and soldered or otherwise attached to the conductor F in any convenient manner. They may also be soldered, riveted, or otherwise permanently secured to the rails. It will also be understood that when only one continuous conductor is provided the joints of the remaining rails may be connected by plates only, cross-comiections ex- V tending from. the plates to the continuous conwithout in any manner preventing the removal or substitution of rails, and will serve to maintain the return-circuit without interruption. A convenient method of protecting the auxiliary conductors is to place them in a continuous groove, a, formed in the stringers below the rails, as shown in Fig. 3, or in the hollow space sometimes formed in the under sides of the rails, as indicated in Fig. 4.

The advantage to be gained by the use of galvanized sheet-iron or sheet-zinc for the metallic connecting-plates uniting the ends of the rails and connecting them with the me tallic conductor is that during wet weather or in the presence of moisture the zinc will form a coating upon the surface of the iron with which it is in contact, which coating will prevent the oxidation of the iron, and thus establish a permanent unchanging electrical connection not otherwise readily obtained in practice. It has been found that where copper plates have been used to connect the ends of rails they have been entirely eaten away and destroyed by the electrolytic action set up between them and the iron or steel rails with which they are in contact.

Having described my invention, what I iclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. The combination, with railway-rails and supports therefor below the surface of the roadway, of means for electrically connecting said rails, comprising plates of zinc or its electrical equivalent arranged under and in electrical connection with said rails, and con ductors continuously connecting the plates in contact with the rails, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with railway-rails and supports therefor below the surface of the roadway, of metallic connections for continuously uniting said rails, comprising a plate of zinc or its electrical equivalent arranged under and in electrical connection with each rail, and conductors contimlously connecting the plates in contact with the rails, substantially as desciibed.

3. The combination, with railway rails and supports therefor below the surface of the roadway, of metallic connections for continuously uniting said rails comprising a plate of zinc or its electrical equivalent arranged under and in electrical connection with each rail, and conductors continuously connecting the plates in contact with the rails, and additional conductors extending between the conductors connecting the separate sets of rails, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my sig natui'ein presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES .T. VAN DEPOELL Witnesses:

WILLIAM. A. S'JILES, JoHN Ellison. 

